Three worthless thugs with shotguns blasted their way into home. The homeowner, Mr. Herr went down swinging. He shot one of the criminals in the leg before taking fatal shotgun blast to head. Fortunately, the wounded criminal was forced to seek medical treatment and was arrested.

My thoughts are that it would be tough to defend yourself against three criminals with a shotgun. You would need as much advance notice as possible, dogs, alarm, motion sensing lights and really strong doors. Also, it was unfortunate that one of the bad guys knew he had $200k in his home safe. Better that no one knows about what is in your home.

Last edited by jmortimer; September 3, 2012 at 07:50 PM.
Reason: Article only mentions one shotgun

Read some more, and it appears they may have had only one shotgun. Another story said they broke through a sliding glass door. Other stories said they shot there way through a door, I guess the slider would count. One other thing I read in the articles, was that the criminals had been planning the home invasion for "months." The killer, admitted the murder saying: "Of course I'm going to shoot the guy. He shot my brother." If they did in fact, after "months" of planning, bring only one firearm, it shows that they should have done more planning. My suggestion, wait until the guy leaves the house and bring more guns, assuming they only brought one shotgun. Regardless, the Vietnam Vet did his best. RIP

That much money shouldn't be in the house anyway , but invested.
BTW it's very easy to start a rumor. One hears you have guns , the next says it's a big collection, the next says it's a huge collection ! There are times to keep your mouth closed.

Most of the home invasions in this and a few other counties are happening with two things to consider:

a) seems there are at least two(or more) invaders.

b) the invasions are happening during daylight hours when people are home.

The sheriffs of two different Ohio counties have made these statements on the news. One sheriff went as far to say the invaders want the resident home to interrogate them about location of valuable's, prescription drugs etc.
The prescription drug thing is an epidemic. Especially opiates(pain killers) often taken by senior people. We had a group of thugs watching a few of the pharmacies for older people picking up scripts and following them home robbing them.

Both counties are mostly rural areas that in the past were not prone to much crime. Therefore the residents in these areas don't lock doors, leave garages open, keys in cars, etc. Easy targets.
There was three in one afternoon within 7mi. of my house.

We can only wish things would have went different for Mr. Herr. Prayers go out to his loved ones. Too, hope the killers get what's coming to them.

Prayers and condolences to Mr. Herr's family and friends. It's so sad that greedy punks ended a man's life because they thought they had more rights to his property than he did.

Do not let people know what is valuable in your home.
Never let people know you have a gun or more than one gun.
Don't "advertise" valuable items where they're visible through outside windows.

I even go so far as to cut down cardboard boxes for laptops, monitors and other valuables and then tape them with the logos facing inward. That way no one can snoop through the recycling or exposed cardboard to see what I've recently purchased.

The concept of not bragging about your "stuff" is a family discussion. Certainly the wife should know not to do this. Getting kids to pay attention is more difficult. A friend of my brother lost his whole baseball card collection because the wrong kid heard his son talk about it at lunch in high school. He tells an older brother who does the stealing with a friend. Convicted, but 40 years of collecting were never recovered.

1. Don't have garage sales;
2. Don't sell stuff on Craig's List; (give your old junk away, sell it on ebay, or haul it to your local flea market and sell it.)
3. Don't have ANY expensive looking things in plain sight when having someone do work inside of your house. This one obviously can be difficult.
4. Don't do illegal drugs (even pot), buy illegal drugs, sell illegal drugs or associate with anyone who is involved in drugs.
5. If you have kids, train them early to keep information about what's in your house, your address, your whereabouts, etc. private.
6. Stay off of Facebook and MySpace.

1. Don't have garage sales;
2. Don't sell stuff on Craig's List; (give your old junk away, sell it on ebay, or haul it to your local flea market and sell it.)
3. Don't have ANY expensive looking things in plain sight when having someone do work inside of your house. This one obviously can be difficult.
4. Don't do illegal drugs (even pot), buy illegal drugs, sell illegal drugs or associate with anyone who is involved in drugs.
5. If you have kids, train them early to keep information about what's in your house, your address, your whereabouts, etc. private.
6. Stay off of Facebook and MySpace.

There was a home invasion in NH last year by three armed scumbags . Boy did they pick the wrong house , that homeowner shot all three of them , killed two on the spot . The third was in the hospital in grave condition , I don't know if he made it or not , but he was never going to walk again . Took one through the spine I guess . Aside from one of them living , Id say it was a perfect outcome ! That homeowner was bad ass !

Add these details to my previous post.
This of course is a UK paper .It's sad to see that so many ,Americans included, think that the Gov't should be involved in giving permission to defend yourself , family and home.
Note that this was the thrid time he's had a problem with BGs . How much are 90 cows worth ?. I think that he was a target because they thought an old guy would be easy pickings !
Me ? I'm proud to be a seasoned citizen when I see a man like that !!

The above story from Boone Co. Ky, is very near my home. I have seen this on the local news, heard it on the local radio and read online about it. That uk newspaper stroy is so slanted. It makes it seem criminal to even consider protecting yourself and your home.

Damn Brits. They make it sound like he went out and murdered the BG. From what I read, he simply armed himself, set himself up in a familiar, defendable area, and took action when he needed to. The "lay in wait" comment is complete BS. The guy's 92yo, I think I'd be sitting in a comfortable armchair too if I were him
Furthermore, quoting him as saying "'These people aren’t worth any more to me than a groundhog," seems to serve no purpose other than to show Mr. Jones in a bad light. The fact that someone burglarized his house the way a groundhog would tear up his property seems to me to be an accurate and perfectly acceptable metaphor.

__________________
I have a mild interest in guns. Actually, I think the clinical term is "obsession," but that makes me sound like some kind of gun-nut. Which is fair, since I am.

Wastin' away my future children's inheritance one box of ammo, range fee, and bottle of Hoppe's #9 at a time.

Who needs home invaders, if I thought I had to live like the post above I would just shoot myself and be done with it.

It's not a matter of "living like that"... it's a matter of knowing how to reduce your odds of being victimized.

One of the recent scams here had teams of thieves quietly cruising neighborhoods on "trash night", looking for empty boxes for computers, TVs, Stereos and other valuables. They weren't so crass as to stop and inspect either. They used a low-light digital camera and noted the address, then kept a database of homes to hit.

Lots of burglaries occur after workmen act as eyes for thieves or pose as garage sale 'customers' who ask to borrow your bathroom.

With $200k in cash at home he would have been wise to use $5000-$10,000 of that for better home security. Could get quite a lot for that: film on windows and doors, reinforced doors and locks, perimeter warning, camera, yard fence and gate, alert dog, etc. with some warning he might have been able to get to a safer room and ward them off.

I would agree; I have a friend with a comic collection worth a lot of money...but he complained about spending a few HUNDRED for a fire proof filing cabinet...would be better off spending a few THOUSAND on real security too but you can't convince everyone. As the valuee of the objects in your home goes up so does your risk; sooner or later someone will figure out what you have be it a Gardener, Tradesman, Door to Door salesman someone will get a clue that you have valuables in your home.

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